Edge Hill Becomes A Place of British Film

A series of free public lectures ranging from palliative care to the place of British film is due to start in March to celebrate Edge Hill University’s new professorial appointments.

Each professor will deliver an inaugural lecture to an audience of students, colleagues, friends, family and members of the public on their chosen subject in what promises to one of the most thought-provoking and interesting lecture series run by the University yet.

The first lecture will be given by Roger Shannon, Professor of Film and Television, on Tuesday 4 March, entitled The Place of British Film. The talk comes in the midst of this year’s film award fervour and will see Professor Shannon draw upon his extensive background as a British film producer and financier to reflect upon the industry in the UK.

Using clips from his own productions, he will explore British film in a number of different contexts, looking at the role of regional cinema, the place of film in the digital age and the use of British film as a ‘literary place’, including the increasing reliance of films on adaptations.

Professor Roger Shannon said: “I'm very pleased to be giving my inaugural lecture at the University, just a few hundred yards from where I was born in Ormskirk. It is an exciting time to be joining Edge Hill, where the Media Department in particular is playing a key role in the forward looking momentum around the institution at the moment. I'm delighted to be playing a part in making the University a 'place for British film’."

Edge Hill’s Inaugural Lecture Series 2008 includes further talks from the University’s newly appointed professors, taking place throughout the year:

• Professor Simon Rogers is a Maxillofacial Surgeon Consultant at the University Hospital Aintree, specialising in oral and oropharyngeal cancer and microvascular free tissue reconstruction. He is also founder member of the Evidence based Practice Research Centre in the University’s Faculty of Health. His lecture, The Key to Success: Patients’ and Carers’ Perspectives in the Cancer Journey on Thursday 17 April 2008, will explore quality of life following oral cancer.
• Professor Tomasz Pobóg-Malinowski is a graduate of the Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School in Lódz and a former Commissioning Editor for Documentary for Channel 4. His lecture On Objects and Objectivity: Reflections on Objects, Objectivity and Representation of Reality by Lens-based Media in the Age of Virtual Reality will take place on Tuesday 6 May 2008.
• Professor Barbara Jack will deliver her lecture, Data or Die: The Need for Nursing and Research in Palliative Care on Thursday 15 May 2008. Barbara is currently the Faculty of Health’s Head of Research and Scholarship and Director of the Evidence-based Practice Research Centre. Her current research includes collaborative links with the Marie Curie Palliative Care Institute Liverpool and Hospice Africa, Uganda.

All lectures begin at 6pm on the Ormskirk Campus, St Helens Road, Ormskirk. Admission to all lectures is free. To book a place, email Sharon Buckley on buckleys@edgehill.ac.uk.